Meaning & use
wincing
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“wincing” is a form of “wince”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
verbintransitive
Making a quick facial movement because of pain, embarrassment or something unpleasant.
Grammar: -ing form of wince; no object, often followed by at or in: wincing at the noise.
Patterns
- wincing at something
- wincing in pain
- wincing with embarrassment
He was wincing in pain as the nurse cleaned the cut.
She sat wincing at every wrong note from the choir.
I could not stop wincing when I remembered what I said.
Word forms
| base form | wince |
|---|---|
| third person singular | winces |
| past tense | winced |
| -ing form | wincing |
Common combinations
- wincing in pain
- He limped down the hall, wincing in pain.
- wincing at the thought
- I was wincing at the thought of the exam.
- wincing with embarrassment
- She sat there, wincing with embarrassment.
- visibly wincing
- The coach was visibly wincing at the mistake.
- wincing slightly
- He stood up, wincing slightly, and walked out.
Synonyms and how they differ
- flinching
- Flinching is a sudden movement of the body away from danger, while wincing is mostly a facial reaction.
- grimacing
- Grimacing is a longer, twisted expression of disgust or pain, whereas wincing is short and quick.
- cringing
- Cringing suggests shrinking away from fear or strong embarrassment, but wincing is smaller and more private.
- recoiling
- Recoiling means pulling back physically, where wincing is just a flicker of the face.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: wincing or winching?
wincing vs winching
Winching means lifting or pulling something with a winch, which is a machine, and it is unrelated to expressions.
Practice
He was ___ at the loud screech of the violin.
Choose one answer.
Wincing means reacting to something unpleasant with a brief expression. Winking means closing one eye on purpose.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wincing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.